My observation is that MM is very precise. Like Stoner, he knows the line he wants through a string of turns, and he hits his marks perfectly. Sometimes that means he moves the back end around to tighten a radius, but I don't think it means he is sliding the motorcycle. His front wheel is exactly where he wants it I think.
I would say most, if not all, racers at that level hit their marks within fractions of an inch. MM seems very comfortable with the bike moving around for sure. Finesse is not a word that comes to mind when watching him ride, but nobody goes that fast without employing some level of finesse. Both Pedrosa and Lorenzo can produce lap after lap within fractions of a second. That's precision and hitting your marks. What makes MM faster than the others? He does seem to be able to chose a different line to make a pass and maintain the same or a faster speed. Seems to me Pedrodsa had a problem with that his first couple years. If he didn't break out and run away with the race he'd get 'stuck' behind another rider. MM is fun to watch for sure. He doesn't really remind me of Stoner much except the winning.
Bikes are on track, and very Yamaha friendly track, at that. Racing should be good. Silly season should be interesting, too. MM JL DP in the top 3. Hoping for NH69 to be top Ducati, but Dovi is looking strong and probably has something to prove. Look for CEII inside the top 15.
FP1 Pos. Num. Rider Nation Team Bike Km/h Time Gap 1st/Prev. 1 99 Jorge LORENZO SPA Yamaha Factory Racing Yamaha 309.1 1'56.698 2 26 Dani PEDROSA SPA Repsol Honda Team Honda 312.9 1'57.041 0.343 / 0.343 3 35 Cal CRUTCHLOW GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha 307.6 1'57.058 0.360 / 0.017 4 93 Marc MARQUEZ SPA Repsol Honda Team Honda 313.9 1'57.120 0.422 / 0.062 5 46 Valentino ROSSI ITA Yamaha Factory Racing Yamaha 308.6 1'57.243 0.545 / 0.123 6 19 Alvaro BAUTISTA SPA GO&FUN Honda Gresini Honda 310.9 1'57.610 0.912 / 0.367 7 6 Stefan BRADL GER LCR Honda MotoGP Honda 311.5 1'57.694 0.996 / 0.084 8 4 Andrea DOVIZIOSO ITA Ducati Team Ducati 308.3 1'57.930 1.232 / 0.236 9 38 Bradley SMITH GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha 309.1 1'57.947 1.249 / 0.017 10 69 Nicky HAYDEN USA Ducati Team Ducati 308.3 1'58.030 1.332 / 0.083 11 29 Andrea IANNONE ITA Energy T.I. Pramac Racing Ducati 304.7 1'58.725 2.027 / 0.695 12 51 Michele PIRRO ITA Ignite Pramac Racing Ducati 302.2 1'59.019 2.321 / 0.294 13 41 Aleix ESPARGARO SPA Power Electronics Aspar ART 293.7 1'59.092 2.394 / 0.073 14 7 Hiroshi AOYAMA JPN Avintia Blusens FTR 297.9 1'59.178 2.480 / 0.086 15 5 Colin EDWARDS USA NGM Mobile Forward Racing FTR Kawasaki 295.9 1'59.416 2.718 / 0.238 16 8 Hector BARBERA SPA Avintia Blusens FTR 296.0 1'59.531 2.833 / 0.115 17 71 Claudio CORTI ITA NGM Mobile Forward Racing FTR Kawasaki 292.9 2'00.293 3.595 / 0.762 18 68 Yonny HERNANDEZ COL Paul Bird Motorsport ART 292.1 2'00.307 3.609 / 0.014 19 9 Danilo PETRUCCI ITA Came IodaRacing Project Ioda-Suter 295.2 2'00.316 3.618 / 0.009 20 17 Karel ABRAHAM CZE Cardion AB Motoracing ART 294.2 2'01.213 4.515 / 0.897 21 14 Randy DE PUNIET FRA Power Electronics Aspar ART 290.4 2'01.331 4.633 / 0.118 22 45 Martin BAUER AUT Remus Racing Team S&B Suter 283.0 2'01.441 4.743 / 0.110 23 70 Michael LAVERTY GBR Paul Bird Motorsport PBM 296.3 2'01.489 4.791 / 0.048 24 67 Bryan STARING AUS GO&FUN Honda Gresini FTR Honda 292.6 2'02.112 5.414 / 0.623 25 52 Lukas PESEK CZE Came IodaRacing Project Ioda-Suter 290.4 2'04.091 7.393 / 1.979
It would be really great to see CC go on a tear for the rest of the season, just to show Yamaha that they should have done a factory support bike out of Tech3 for him next year. Underdog- go get 'em.
There's a funny story going on about Colin Edwards's baseball bat. Let's just say that tonight he woke up on his motorhome and almost found a way to try it.
FP2, Smith pulls clear of the Ducs, Dovi pips Hayden right at the end of the session. Pos. Num. Rider Nation Team Bike Km/h Time Gap 1st/Prev. 1 6 Stefan BRADL GER LCR Honda MotoGP Honda 311.6 1'56.500 2 99 Jorge LORENZO SPA Yamaha Factory Racing Yamaha 308.4 1'56.538 0.038 / 0.038 3 26 Dani PEDROSA SPA Repsol Honda Team Honda 314.6 1'56.600 0.100 / 0.062 4 46 Valentino ROSSI ITA Yamaha Factory Racing Yamaha 309.4 1'56.726 0.226 / 0.126 5 93 Marc MARQUEZ SPA Repsol Honda Team Honda 312.5 1'56.733 0.233 / 0.007 6 35 Cal CRUTCHLOW GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha 308.0 1'56.800 0.300 / 0.067 7 38 Bradley SMITH GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha 308.4 1'57.351 0.851 / 0.551 8 19 Alvaro BAUTISTA SPA GO&FUN Honda Gresini Honda 309.1 1'57.401 0.901 / 0.050 9 4 Andrea DOVIZIOSO ITA Ducati Team Ducati 306.2 1'57.754 1.254 / 0.353 10 69 Nicky HAYDEN USA Ducati Team Ducati 308.3 1'57.896 1.396 / 0.142 11 29 Andrea IANNONE ITA Energy T.I. Pramac Racing Ducati 304.9 1'58.039 1.539 / 0.143 12 41 Aleix ESPARGARO SPA Power Electronics Aspar ART 295.1 1'58.217 1.717 / 0.178 13 51 Michele PIRRO ITA Ignite Pramac Racing Ducati 306.4 1'58.958 2.458 / 0.741 14 8 Hector BARBERA SPA Avintia Blusens FTR 297.0 1'59.235 2.735 / 0.277 15 71 Claudio CORTI ITA NGM Mobile Forward Racing FTR Kawasaki 292.2 1'59.288 2.788 / 0.053 16 5 Colin EDWARDS USA NGM Mobile Forward Racing FTR Kawasaki 295.7 1'59.390 2.890 / 0.102 17 68 Yonny HERNANDEZ COL Paul Bird Motorsport ART 289.1 1'59.539 3.039 / 0.149 18 7 Hiroshi AOYAMA JPN Avintia Blusens FTR 294.3 1'59.613 3.113 / 0.074 19 9 Danilo PETRUCCI ITA Came IodaRacing Project Ioda-Suter 293.4 1'59.719 3.219 / 0.106 20 14 Randy DE PUNIET FRA Power Electronics Aspar ART 289.9 1'59.799 3.299 / 0.080 21 70 Michael LAVERTY GBR Paul Bird Motorsport PBM 296.1 2'00.338 3.838 / 0.539 22 17 Karel ABRAHAM CZE Cardion AB Motoracing ART 296.6 2'00.413 3.913 / 0.075 23 45 Martin BAUER AUT Remus Racing Team S&B Suter 281.9 2'00.730 4.230 / 0.317 24 52 Lukas PESEK CZE Came IodaRacing Project Ioda-Suter 289.3 2'01.549 5.049 / 0.819 25 67 Bryan STARING AUS GO&FUN Honda Gresini FTR Honda 291.1 2'01.746 5.246 / 0.197
